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Royce Questions SEC on British “Advice Gap” and Whistleblower Protections

Today, U.S. Representative Ed Royce (R-Calif.) questioned witnesses from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on the United Kingdom’s Retail Distribution Review (RDR) implementation and whistleblower protections during a Capital Markets and Government Sponsored Enterprises Subcommittee hearing entitled “Continued Oversight of the SEC’s Offices and Divisions.”

“Experts have deemed the United Kingdom’s Retail Distribution Review as being ‘effectually identical to the Labor Department’s rule.’ In the eyes of not just industry, but the British government itself, implementation of the RDR created an ‘advice gap’ that locked out middle- and lower- income savers from investment advice. I’ve studied the Johnson Report about the Department of Labor’s communications with the SEC during the lead-up to the rule’s release. I share the Senator’s frustration with the Department’s lack of cooperation in releasing all of its communication with the Commission regarding its rule,” said Rep. Royce.

“I’m going to ask Mr. Flannery, did the DOL and SEC communicate about the impact of Great Britain’s RDR on British consumers? If so, to what extent? And if not, why did the SEC not think it relevant to reference the fact that a developed economy has already implemented a rule similar to the DOL’s rule and this …read more